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Hard News: Safety and Self-Care on the Digital Frontline

Digital media has revolutionized the way that journalists are able to source material and interact with their audiences. Mobile technologies, social media platforms and photo- and video-sharing services allow journalists and journalistic organizations to report both intimately and extensively than ever.

But these new technologies also bring new risks: being a journalist today often means working with disturbing imagery, messages and materials, while having an online presence can expose journalists to reputation and other online attacks.

This panel discussion will address both the ways that journalists' work makes them vulnerable and how they can best protect themselves from the negative aspects of working online, while still successfully creating significant, high-quality journalism.

Susan E. McGregor is Assistant Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism & Assistant Professor of Columbia Journalism School, where she helps supervise the dual-degree programs in Journalism and Computer Science. She teaches primarily in areas of data journalism and information visualization, with research interests in digital security, knowledge management, and alternative forms of digital distribution. McGregor was the Senior Programmer on the News Graphics team at the Wall Street Journal Online for four years before joining Columbia Journalism School in 2011.

Sam Duuberleyhas over ten years' experience in broadcast news. He headed the Eurovision News Exchange from 2010 to 2013, managing the world’s largest exchange of television news content. He worked alongside Claire Wardle and Pete Brown to conduct research into UGC and broadcast news, published by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. He is now based in Istanbul providing consultancy for a range of corporate, non-profit, governmental and academic institutions.